UPDATE 7/8/09: Cynthia is back in the US. Interview with DemocracyNow available online:

– Ed.

From DemocracyNow.org:Listen/Watch links here. Fmr. Congressmember Cynthia McKinney Back in U.S. After Being Detained and Deported from Israel - Former Congressmember Cynthia McKinney arrived back in the United States Tuesday following her deportation from Israel. McKinney was one of 21 activists seized by the Israeli military in international waters last week as they tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. We speak with McKiney and with filmmaker Adam Shapiro who was detained and deported as well.

Former Congressmember Cynthia McKinney arrived back in the United States Tuesday following her deportation from Israel. McKinney was one of 21 activists seized by the Israeli military in international waters last week as they tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Also aboard the Free Gaza boat was Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire. Last week’s trip was the Free Gaza movement’s first since it aborted an attempt in January after the Israeli navy threatened to shoot the civilian passengers on board. That sailing had come just weeks after an Israeli navy vessel deliberately rammed another of its boats, almost forcing it to sink.

Cynthia McKinney joins us now in Washington D.C. We are also joined here at the Firehouse by Adam Shapiro. He was filming the Free Gaza trip last week. He is a Palestinian rights activist and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement. Both Cynthia and Adam were detained for the past week in an Israeli jail.

Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman and the 2008 Green Party presidential candidate.

Adam Shapiro, documentary filmmaker, human rights activist and Palestinian rights activist. Adam was a co-founder of the ISM in Palestine. He was filming the voyage of the Arion for the Free Gaza Movement last week.

Cynthia McKinney arrives at JFK airport in NYC, Monday evening: reception planned to welcome her home after the illegal capture and detention of the Free Gaza 21 by Israel

* Reception planned for McKinney: media invited

* Daily vigil for the Free Gaza 21 and for Palestinians suffering the effects of the Israeli occupation and the invasion of Gaza: every evening at the Van Ness Metro Station (Red Line) in Washington, DC, 5 to 6 pm.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Cynthia McKinney will arrive at JFK airport this evening (Monday, July 6) after her detention in an Israeli prison during the past week along with others in the 'Free Gaza 21'. Her flight will arrive at 8:40 pm ET.

A reception will be held for Ms. McKinney, a former member of Congress from Georgia and the Green Party's 2008 presidential nominee. The media are invited to the reception.

Ms. McKinney and 20 other human rights advocates involved in the Free Gaza Movement (www.freegaza.org), including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, were on board the Spirit of Humanity to deliver medical supplies, construction materials, and toys to Gaza when the boat was intercepted and seized by Israeli gunboats last Monday.

Cynthia McKinney arrives at JFK airport in NYC, Monday evening: reception planned to welcome her home after the illegal capture and detention of the Free Gaza 21 by Israel

* Reception planned for McKinney: media invited

* Daily vigil for the Free Gaza 21 and for Palestinians suffering the effects of the Israeli occupation and the invasion of Gaza: every evening at the Van Ness Metro Station (Red Line) in Washington, DC, 5 to 6 pm.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Cynthia McKinney will arrive at JFK airport this evening (Monday, July 6) after her detention in an Israeli prison during the past week along with others in the 'Free Gaza 21'. Her flight will arrive at 8:40 pm ET.

A reception will be held for Ms. McKinney, a former member of Congress from Georgia and the Green Party's 2008 presidential nominee. The media are invited to the reception.

Ms. McKinney and 20 other human rights advocates involved in the Free Gaza Movement (www.freegaza.org), including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, were on board the Spirit of Humanity to deliver medical supplies, construction materials, and toys to Gaza when the boat was intercepted and seized by Israeli gunboats last Monday.

The actions of the Israeli navy were illegal and constitute an act of piracy, since the relief boat was international waters. After the boat was captured, the passengers were detained in a prison in Ramla, Israel.

Late last week, Israeli authorities pressed Ms. McKinney to sign a statement in Hebrew (which Ms. McKinney does not speak) that allegedly declared that the Spirit of Humanity was trespassing in Israeli waters and violating Israeli law. Ms. McKinney refused to sign the statement. As a result of her refusal, Ms. McKinney was told that her detention would last three more days. On Sunday, the US embassy in Tel Aviv confirmed that McKinney and some others were moved to the Ben Gurion International Airport in preparation for their deportation.

Members and supporters of the Free Gaza 21 have expressed concern about some of the human rights activists still behind bars in Israel. According to recent communications, Mairead Maguire had initially chosen to stay in the Ramla prison in solidarity with Muslim members of the Free Gaza 21 from Yemen, Jordon, the United Kingdom, Scotland, Palestine, and Denmark, but a Haaretz (Israel) news article has stated that Ms. Maguire is also being deported (http://wfww.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1098033.html). According to later reports, the activists from the UK and Scotland are also being deported.

Cynthia McKinney has stressed that President Obama had urged delivery of medical and other supplies to Gaza in the wake of Israel's brutal invasion last December and January. Last Thursday, the Green Party published the following statement from Ms. McKinney, which was communicated by phone from her cell in Ramla:

"We were in international waters on a boat delivering humanitarian aid to people in Gaza when the Israeli Navy ships surrounded us and illegally threatened us, dismantled our navigation equipment, boarded and confiscated the ship. All of us on board were then taken off the ship and into custody, and brought into Israel and imprisoned. Immigration officials in Israel said they did not want to keep us, but we remain imprisoned. State Department and White House officials have not effected our release or taken a strong public stance to condemn the illegal actions of the Israeli Navy of enforcing a blockade of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians of Gaza, a blockade that has been condemned by President Obama."

In another communication, Ms. McKinney said, "It is incumbent upon President Obama to stand by his reported policy of easing the Gazan blockade and of allowing building supplies, medical supplies, and school supplies to go through," adding "we call upon President Obama to use the highest level of his authority to transmit this message to the Israelis."

The Green Party of the United States called for the immediate release of the Free Gaza 21 and for permission for the Spirit of Humanity to resume its delivery of urgently needed medical and other supplies to Gaza (http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=230).

Green leaders have urged party members and other concerned about the situation to call the White House, the US State Department, and members of Congress. A daily vigil for the Free Gaza 21 and for Palestinians suffering the effects of the Israeli occupation and the invasion of Gaza is continuing each evening at the Van Ness Metro Station (Red Line) in Washington, DC, from 5 to 6 pm.

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